Automated receiving and delivery system and method

ABSTRACT

A system and method uses an appliance for delivery at a home or business when no one is home or without the need to disturb persons at the delivery site. The appliance is a locked storage container connected to remote computers such that access for particular delivery persons or companies is authorized when the owner of the appliance has placed an order. The appliance communicates, such as via the internet, with a remote delivery system computer having a scheduler that schedules deliveries during particular time intervals. Prior to scheduling the delivery, the delivery system computer compares the dimensions of the order with the available space within the appliance of the customer. After a delivery is made, the appliance communicates via the internet that the delivery has been made and the delivery system computer then charges or debits the customer&#39;s account for the cost associated with the delivery.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a system, device and method for receiving goodsor other items, purchasing goods, scheduling and tracking deliveries,receiving deliveries or ordered items utilizing a specialized device,making and processing payment, inventorying items scheduled for deliveryand items delivered and making information about deliveries availablethrough a variety of means.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

The recent upsurge in e-commerce whereby a consumer accesses a websiteover the Internet to purchase goods for delivery to the home, office orother site has created an increased need for scheduling and tracking thedeliveries, as well as for providing a safe and secure site for receiptof the goods when they are delivered to an unoccupied site. Theconvenience of being able to avoid making a trip to a retail store oroutlet to purchase goods, and being able to order such goods fordeliveries to home, office or other site “on-line” is off-set by theproblems surrounding the delivery of the goods to the purchaser. If thepurchaser is not available on-site to receive the goods, he must eitherre-schedule for another delivery or the goods must be left unsecured atthe site, thereby being subject to theft or damage.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device which enables thesafe and secure receipt of purchased or other goods, delivered to a sitewithout a person in attendance.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a system for theremote purchasing of goods, making and processing payment therefor,inventorying the purchased goods, scheduling and tracking the deliveryof the goods, as well as making information available about the deliverythrough a variety of means.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a method forthe remote purchasing of goods and for providing the safe and securedelivery of the purchased goods to a desired site.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a delivery techniquewhere the size (overall volume and length, height, and width) of anorder is compared to available space (volume and length, height, andwidth) within a locked storage container or appliance in which thedelivery is to be made, delivery is scheduled for a time when sufficientspace is available, and access to the locked storage container isgranted to a delivery person only during a scheduled time interval.

A still further object of the invention to provide delivery to a lockedstorage container corresponding to a customer and where an account ofthe customer is charged for the delivery (i.e., the costs of the goodsand/or the delivery service) upon insertion of the order with thecontainer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above and other objects are realized by the present invention, oneembodiment of which comprises a storage appliance or device at a fixedsite/location/address which is accessible by means of an identifierunlocking a locked entry door. (As used herein, an “identifier” includesa physical device, such as a key, electronic key, smart card, magneticcard, or similar device carried or transported by an individual to giveaccess or a biometric property such as fingerprint, voice pattern asrecognized by a machine, or retinal scan of a delivery person. Theidentifier is associated with a particular person, such as a deliveryperson, or a particular company.) The typical location is near oraffixed to the exterior of a home or office. The appliance is capable ofreceiving and storing goods for delivery or pickup with a level ofsecurity preventing unauthorized entry or theft and with protectionagainst pests and unfavorable weather conditions. The appliance may beequipped with multiple storage areas, some of which may be cooled orheated. The appliance may be free-standing, secured to a fixed locationor affixed to a structure.

A further embodiment of the invention relates to a system comprising theappliance in electronic communication with a computer or computernetwork. This communication may be affected by a variety of means,including any form of telephonic signal, television cable, computernetwork cable, radio signal or the like.

The appliance receives and transmits data to the computer or computernetwork (hereinafter referred to as the “scheduler”) which is capable oforganizing and recording a schedule of deliveries and pickups utilizingthe appliance and transmitting instructions to the appliance allowing itto identify an identifier authorized to access the appliance inaccordance with a schedule. As mentioned previously, the identifier maybe a physical access device such as key, an electronic key, smart card,magnetic card, or a biometric property of a delivery person as sensed bysensors. However, and for ease of discussion below, reference below willoften be to a key and it will be understood that other devices orbiometric properties could be used in lieu thereof. The appliance may beidentified by the computer or computer network with which it iscommunicating by identification number, name or location. Each appliancemay be associated with a user account record or records.

Still another embodiment of the invention comprises a method ofscheduling and tracking deliveries, of receiving deliveries utilizing aspecialized device, of making and processing payment, of inventoryingitems scheduled for delivery and items delivered and of makinginformation about deliveries available through a variety of means. Usersof the method may be entities desiring to make deliveries and/or toreceive deliveries. Users of the method may schedule delivery, trackshipment and delivery, make secure delivery by means of a specializedappliance, make and confirm payment, inventory items scheduled fordelivery and delivered. Users of the method may access data regardingthe appliance and/or delivery location stored on computer or computernetwork and accessed by a variety of means including telephone, radio,computer network or the Internet. The type of data which may be accessedincludes data concerning the location of the appliance and alternativedelivery locations, the capacity and type of storage of the appliance,the type and availability of storage capacity at the time and date ofintended delivery and special instructions or other informationpertaining to the delivery appliance and location and method of payment.

The method of the present invention may alternately be described as amethod of: delivery of ordered items to a plurality of locked storagecontainers, each associated with a corresponding customer, using adelivery system including a scheduler, the steps including: ordering afirst delivery of one or more goods for a first customer associated witha first locked storage container of the plurality of locked storagecontainers; following the ordering of the first delivery, determiningthe availability of the first locked storage container to receive thefirst delivery at one or more times by use of the scheduler;identifying, using the scheduler, a first time interval during which thefirst delivery can be made; and the delivery system sending to the firstlocked storage container an access signal allowing a first deliveryperson who is delivering the delivery to access the first locked storagecontainer only during the first time interval. The steps include:ordering a second delivery of one or more goods for the first customer;following the ordering of the second delivery, determining theavailability of the first locked storage container to receive the seconddelivery at one or more times by use of the scheduler; identifying,using the scheduler, a second time interval during which the seconddelivery can be made; and the delivery system sending to the firstlocked storage container an access signal allowing a second deliveryperson who is delivering the second delivery to access the first lockedstorage container only during the second time interval.

A delivery is ordered for one or more goods for a second customerassociated with a second locked storage container of the plurality oflocked storage containers. Following the ordering of the last-mentioneddelivery, the availability of the second locked storage container toreceive the last-mentioned delivery at one or more times by use of theschedule is determined. The method identifies, using the scheduler, asecond customer time interval during which the last-mentioned deliverycan be made; and the delivery system sends to the second locked storagecontainer an access signal allowing a delivery person who is deliveringthe last-mentioned delivery to access the second locked storagecontainer only during the second customer time interval. The firstdelivery person opens the first locked storage container using anidentifier corresponding to the first delivery person and the seconddelivery person opens the first locked storage container using anidentifier corresponding to the second delivery person.

Following the ordering, the size of the delivery is determined using thedelivery system. Available room with the first locked storage containeris checked by use of the delivery system. Upon availability as indicatedby the checking step, the delivery system reserves sufficient roomwithin the first locked storage container to receive the delivery.

Following the first delivery, an account of the first customer ischarged for the first delivery upon the first locked storage containersignaling the delivery system of the insertion of the first deliveryinto the first locked storage container. The first locked storagecontainer signals the delivery system of the insertion of the firstdelivery into the first locked storage container based on access by thefirst delivery person.

The invention may alternately be described as a method of delivery ofordered items to a plurality of locked storage containers using adelivery system, the steps including: ordering a delivery of one or moregoods to a first customer; following the ordering, determining the sizeof the delivery using the delivery system; checking available roomwithin a first locked storage container of the plurality of lockedstorage containers, the first locked storage container corresponding tothe first customer, by use of the delivery system; upon availability,reserving, by operation of the delivery system, sufficient room withinthe first locked storage container to receive the delivery; anddelivering the delivery to within the first locked storage container.Upon finding that the available room within the first locked storagecontainer is insufficient for the size of the delivery, the ordereddelivery is divided into at least first and second partial deliveriesfor separate delivery upon there being available room. The deliverysystem includes a scheduler and the method further includes the stepsof: following the ordering of the delivery, determining the availabilityof the first locked storage container to receive the first and parts atone or more times by use of the scheduler; identifying, using thescheduler, a first time interval during which the first partial deliverycan be made and a second time interval during which the second partialdelivery can be made; and the delivery system sending to the firstlocked storage container an access signal allowing access to the firstlocked storage container only during the first time interval fordelivery of the first partial delivery and during the second timeinterval for delivery of the second partial delivery. Prior to dividingthe ordered delivery, input is received from the customer indicating thecustomer's preference for a complete delivery or delivery in multipleportions; and the scheduler schedules delivery according to thecustomer's preference. The method of further includes the step of:charging an account of the first customer for a delivery upon the lockedstorage container signaling the delivery system of the insertion of adelivery into the locked storage container.

The invention may alternately be described as a method for delivery ofordered items to a plurality of locked storage containers using adelivery system, the steps including: ordering a delivery of one or moregoods to a customer; delivering the delivery to within one of the lockedstorage containers corresponding to the customer; and automaticallysending a DELIVERY MADE signal from the one of the locked storagecontainers signaling the delivery system of the insertion of thedelivery into the one of the locked storage containers. Upon thedelivery system receiving the DELIVERY MADE signal, the delivery systemperforms one or more steps selected from the group consisting of:charging an account of the customer for the delivery; and automaticallyinitiating a communication to the customer. The delivery system includesa scheduler and further includes the steps of: following the ordering,determining the availability of the one of the locked storage containersto receive the delivery at one or more times by use of the scheduler;identifying, using the scheduler, a first time interval during which thedelivery can be made; and the delivery system sending to the one of thelocked storage containers an access signal allowing a first deliveryperson who is delivering the delivery to access the one of the lockedstorage containers only during the first time interval. The methodfurther includes the steps of: following the ordering, determining thesize of the delivery using the delivery system; and checking availableroom with the one of the locked storage containers by use of thedelivery system.

The delivery system of the present invention may be described as fordelivery of items includes: a plurality of locked storage containers atdifferent locations, each locked storage container corresponding to acustomer: order receiver within the delivery system for receiving ordersfor delivery of one or more goods for customer; availability determinerfor determining the availability of the locked storage containers toreceive deliveries at one or more times; a scheduler receivingavailability information from the availability determiner and operableto identify a time interval during which the delivery can be made andoperable to send to a locked storage container an access signal allowinga delivery person who is delivering a delivery to access the lockedstorage container only during the time interval identified by thescheduler.

The appliance of the present invention is an appliance for securelyreceiving deliveries without requiring a person in attendance to acceptdelivery includes: a storage container; a lock controlling access to thestorage container; and a communication link connected to the lock andoperable to receive an access signal from a remote location to allowaccess to the storage container; and wherein the lock is responsive tothe communication link receiving the access signal by unlocking uponpresentation of an identifier selected from the group consisting of: aphysical device granting access, and one or more biometric properties.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a storage appliance embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a flow sheet depicting the steps of the method of theinvention overlaid on the main components or participants in the method.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the front of the storage applianceembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the rear of the storage applianceembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a cut-away view of the interior of the storage applianceembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the part of the system embodiment of theinvention utilizing a computer as the controller between the electronickey to the storage appliance and the communications network.

FIG. 7 is a simplified flow chart of a process of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows an appliance 10 according to the present invention. Theappliance 10 is a locked storage container with a door handle 12 and anelectronic lock 14. The lock 14 may be accessed by a universal key,other physical device or other identifier (including biometricproperties as discussed above). The lock 14 is capable of identifyingelectronically or by other means the key (more generally the identifier)being used for unlocking or opening the appliance. However, in thepreferred design the appliance 10 is capable of identifying specifickeys authorized for entry and/or permitting access by unlocking the doorbased on instructions communicated to it by a scheduler, remotelylocated. The scheduler is connected to lock 14 via communications link16 such as a modem or other interface to the telephone system, theinternet or other communications, and discussed in more detail below.The appliance is also capable of denying entry to keys not authorizedfor delivery or not authorized for delivery at that time. The applianceis preferably capable of recording and/or transmitting a log or otheritemized listing of authorized and unauthorized attempt(s) at openingthe appliance and may include among other information the electronicidentity of each key, the date and time of the attempt.

The access to appliance 10 may be explained by an example. A firstdelivery person working for a first company may have an electronic key,such as a smart card or magnetic card, unique to that individual or thefirst company. Alternately, and in lieu of the key or other physicalaccess device, a biometric property (such as fingerprint, voice pattern,retinal pattern) of the delivery person may be read by an optionalbiometric sensor 15. A second delivery person working for a secondcompany may have an electronic key, such as a smart card or magneticcard, unique to that individual or the second company. The firstdelivery person may be scheduled for accessing the appliance 10 during afirst time interval such as between 9 AM and 12 noon on a given day,whereas the second delivery person may be scheduled for accessing theappliance 10 during a second time interval such as between 1 PM and 4 PMon the same day. Under such circumstances, the lock 14 could only beopened by the first delivery person's electronic key (not shown) duringthe first time interval, whereas the lock 14 could only be opened by thesecond delivery person's electronic key (not shown) during the secondtime interval. This assumes that the scheduler switches the lock 14 intoan access state in which it is unlockable by an electronic key.Alternately, the scheduler could simply unlock the lock 14 so that aperson could insert items in the appliance without needing a lock.

The time intervals might be much longer then the several hour timeintervals above. For example, a time interval of 24 or more hours for adelivery might be used. Further, the first and second time intervalsmight overlap or even be identical (i.e., two deliveries scheduled forthe same time interval).

In a typical use of the device, system and method of the invention, andwith particular reference to FIG. 2, a flow chart is shown overlaid onthe main components or participants linked as shown. Discussing first,the main components or participants, the customer 18 is linked towebsite/retail partner 20 which in turn is linked to a scheduler websitesoftware 22 and delivery partner 24. The delivery partner 24 in turn islinked to website/retail partner 20 and also to the customer's homedelivery attendant 26. The various illustrated links between 18, 20, 22,24, and 26 would preferably be internet links, but telephone or otherlinks could also be used for some or all of the links. It should beunderstood that the components 18 through 26 are shown for a particularcustomer, but in practice there would be a plurality of customers 18each having an associated home delivery attendant 26. Additionally, thescheduler website/software may interact with a plurality of retailoutlets 20 and a plurality of delivery partners 24. For example, theremay be a retailer 20 for books, a different retailer 20 for clothing,and numerous other retailers, some competitive with others, all linkedto the scheduler 22. The various delivery partners may be specialized ona geographic basis, a delivery basis (i.e., one delivers within one day,another delivers within three days, etc.), and possibly by the type ofdelivery being made. As will be discussed below, some orders may involveproducts requiring special handling such as refrigeration in transit andthe delivery partner delivering such products may need a refrigeratorsection in a delivery truck.

Turning now to the flow chart part of FIG. 2, the steps are numbered 28to 50, steps 40 and 44 being within a common box. At box 28, a consumeraccesses an e-commerce website over the Internet to purchase goods forhome delivery. The consumer identifies himself/herself as an accountholder. The retailer/vendor 20 electronically looks up and verifies theaccount of the consumer against a register or database of accounts madeavailable on-line by the scheduler 22. An account holder is anauthorized user of an appliance(s) 10 (FIG. 1 only) capable ofunattended receipt/delivery and of electronically communicating with aspecialized computer program (scheduler) which schedules deliveries tothe appliance and reports deliveries to the account holder. The consumerselects items for purchase and delivery and fills an electronic shoppingcart.

It will be understood that the invention also contemplates delivery ofitems ordered by telephone, mail, or in person at a retail store. Theinvention also may be used for receiving items that do not involve acommercial transaction. For example, a neighbor could return a borroweditem to the person owning the storage container.

As the shopping cart is loaded with goods selected, the estimated totalsize of the bundle of items as measured by the dimensions of height,width and depth is calculated (with software provided by the scheduler)based on information provided by the seller. Accessing information(provided by the scheduler over a computer network of the Internet)regarding the type and capacity of the appliance and the estimatedremaining capacity of the appliance at the projected time/date ofdelivery, the estimated size of the bundle of items is compared againstthe total volume (including the various dimensions) of space remainingavailable in the consumer's designated appliance(s) on the time/date ofthe proposed date of delivery. Thus, an order that has a length of 5feet will require 5 feet available within the appliance 10. If thevolume or any dimension of the order exceeds available capacity, theconsumer is given the option of splitting the delivery into two or moredeliveries, of rescheduling the delivery for another time when capacityis available, or of removing items from the shopping cart.

The retailer or seller notifies the consumer of the final purchase priceincluding shipping and handling. At step 30, the consumer authorizes thepurchase and indicates method of payment. The consumer may arrange forpayment to seller directly or by debit or credit accounts linked to theconsumer's account. The seller finalizes the sale. At block 32, theseller notifies the scheduler 22 (a specialized computer program runningon a delivery system computer) of the time/date of the intended deliveryand the estimated size of the bundle of items. The scheduler reservesthe capacity in the designated appliance for the scheduled time/date ofthe delivery. The seller also electronically provides to the scheduler(in format specified by the scheduler) an inventory of items purchased,itemized prices of each item purchased, itemized shipping and handlingcosts, and any other information permitted by the scheduler includingcoupon or “cents off” offers and other advertising and promotionalinformation. This information provided by the seller may be madeaccessible by the scheduler to the consumer by a variety of means andformats, including computer networks, the Internet, electronic mail,telephone or printed matter.

The seller prepares the order for shipment. If any of the items areunavailable at the time that the order is being filled or if other itemsare added to the shipment for any reason, the estimated size of thebundle of items is adjusted. At step 34, the seller accesses informationprovided by the scheduler regarding the then available capacity at thetime/date of delivery. If space is available, the shipment is scheduledat step 36. If space is unavailable, the shipment is adjustedinteractively until available space capacity can be confirmed andreserved. At step 38, the seller electronically provides to thescheduler information to update the order, including any shippinginformation, routing or tracking numbers, etc., and any additionaladvertising or promotional information.

Preceding the time/date of each scheduled delivery, the schedulercommunicates at step 40 electronic instructions to the appliance topermit entry to delivery personnel using a key which is identified bythe appliance and matches a key authorized for entry for the scheduleddelivery at that date/time (a time interval within an assigned date, oroptionally, more than one date). If a key does not match a keyauthorized for entry at that time/date, entry will be denied. Once entryis gained for an authorized key, that key will be locked out untilre-authorized.

When a delivery is made to the appliance 10 at step 42, the appliancecommunicates to the scheduler (by sending a “delivery made” signal) thatthe delivery was completed at step 44. Debit or credit sales at thepoint of delivery are processed for payment (costs of the goods and/ordelivery applied to an account of the customer) at step 46. Thescheduler updates the consumer's account with the time/date of receipt.The vendor selling the goods or service making the delivery may alsoprovide information to the customer's account regarding the time/date ofdelivery, promotional material and other information specified above,including a “thank you” for the purchase at step 48.

The scheduler updates the consumer's account with various informationregarding each purchase and scheduled delivery at step 50. The consumermay access this information through a variety of means including acomputer network, an email, the Internet (i.e., checking a web page), atext message to the consumer's pager, or telephone. The consumer mayreview his/her account through a variety of views including availablecapacity by time period, committed capacity by time period,chronological list of scheduled deliveries, chronological list ofscheduled deliveries by vendor, chronological list of scheduleddeliveries by vendor classification (i.e., groceries, dry cleaning,etc.), deliveries made, deliveries missed, inventory of items ordered ordelivered (by vendor, vendor classification, time period, etc.),inventory of items ordered but not shipped, calculation of costs (byvendor, vendor type, time period, method of payment, shipping andhandling, etc.).

The consumer account holder may request to be notified at various stagesof the shipping and delivery process. In addition to information, whichis updated to the consumer's account and available by means previouslyspecified, the notification may be made via electronic mail, voice ortext pager, or telephone.

Although the discussion refers to consumers placing the orders, it willbe understood that the person ordering may also be a business customerordering supplies for a business.

Turning now to FIGS. 2-5, the appliance 10 details will be discussed.Door handle 12 and electronic lock 14 are on the front of the appliance10 and would be used by delivery persons to access the appliance via afront door 15. Door handle 52 and key lock 54 would be used by thecustomer (i.e., appliance owner) to access the rear door 55 of theappliance 10. In practice, the appliance 10 may have its front door 15on the outside of a house (not shown) with the rear door 55 on theinside of the house. In that case, the appliance would fit in an openingin the wall of the house in similar fashion to some room airconditioners. The inside of the appliance 10 includes an insulatedcompartment 56 where items such as hot food (pizza, etc.) may maintaintheir heat. Dry goods or bulk items may be placed within compartment 58which is subdivided by a shelf 60. A refrigerated compartment 62 and drycleaning section 64 with a bar 66 for hanging clothes are also included.Although not separately shown, a heated compartment and a freezercompartment may also be included.

Turning now to FIG. 6, the electronic lock 14 is connected to acomputer/controller 68 that is in the appliance 10. Thecomputer/controller 68, which may operate solenoids or other actuators(not shown) in order to unlock lock 14 or render it accessible (i.e.,ready to be unlocked) via electronic key 70, communicates viacommunication link 16 with the scheduler 22. The link 16 may connect toscheduler 22 via the internet, telephone system, cable, wireless orother technique.

A digital signature 71 may be stored within computer 68 and may be usedfor acknowledging special deliveries. For example, the delivery ofcertain pharmaceutical products may require a signature to acknowledgereceipt. Upon the insertion of a pharmaceutical delivery (or any otherdelivery where signature is desired or required), the computer 68 maysend, as part of a DELIVERY MADE signal, an appended digital signatureto authenticate the delivery. Alternately, the electronic key 70 may bepart of or connected to a small computer carried by the delivery personand operable to receive the digital signature acknowledging receipt ofthe delivery. Recent changes in the law in the United States, amongother countries, may allow such digital signatures to be used insituations where written signatures were previously used.

Turning now to FIG. 7, but also considering FIG. 2, a flow chart of somekey aspects of the method of the present invention will be discussed.Except as otherwise noted the steps in FIG. 7 are performed by scheduler22. The order is placed at step 72 by a customer on his/her computerwhich communicates it to the scheduler 22. At block 74, the scheduler 22determines the dimensions of the order. These dimensions may have beensupplied to scheduler 22 by the retailer 20. At block 76, the scheduler22 compares the dimensions of the order with the available space withinthe appliance 10 for a given time period. The scheduler may keep arunning total of space available within the appliance. Alternately, thecomputer 68 of FIG. 6 may keep a running total of space available thatis supplied, upon automated request, to the scheduler.

If block 76 determines that not enough space is available, control goesto block 78 where the order is divided into two or more portions forseparate delivery before returning to block 74.

Once block 76 determines that sufficient space is available, controlgoes to block 80 where space for the delivery is reserved. Next, block82 sends an access signal from the scheduler 22 to the appliance 10 suchthat a delivery person may unlock it during a prescribed time interval.Block 84 indicates that the delivery is made, after which block 86corresponds to the computer 68 of the appliance 10 sending a deliverymade signal to the scheduler. Upon receipt of the signal indicatingdelivery, the scheduler 22 or another part of the delivery systemcomputer on which the scheduling software runs, sends a charge accountsignal. The charge account signal debits or charges the customer'saccount for the delivery which had just been made.

Although various specific constructions and steps have been shown anddiscussed, these are for illustrative purposes only. Variousmodifications will be apparent to those of skill in the art. Therefore,the scope of the present invention should be determined with referenceto the claims appended hereto.

1-22. (canceled)
 23. An appliance for securely receiving deliverieswithout requiring a person in attendance to accept delivery comprising:a storage container; a lock controlling access to the storage container;and a communication link connected to the lock and operable to receivean access signal from a remote location to allow access to the storagecontainer; and wherein the lock is responsive to the communication linkreceiving the access signal by unlocking upon presentation of anidentifier selected from the group consisting of: a physical devicegranting access, and one or more biometric properties.
 24. A method fordelivery of ordered items to a plurality of locked storage containersusing a delivery system, the steps includes: ordering a delivery of oneor more goods to a customer; delivering the delivery to within one ofthe locked storage containers corresponding to the customer; andautomatically sending a DELIVERY MADE signal from the one of the lockedstorage containers signaling the delivery system of the insertion of thedelivery into the one of the locked storage containers.
 25. The methodof claim 24 wherein, upon the delivery system receiving the DELIVERYMADE signal, the delivery system performs one or more steps selectedfrom the group consisting of: charging an account of the customer forthe delivery; and automatically initiating a communication to thecustomer.
 26. The method of claim 25 wherein the delivery systemincludes a scheduler and further includes the steps of: following theordering, determining the availability of the one of the locked storagecontainers to receive the delivery at one or more times by use of thescheduler; identifying, using the scheduler, a first time intervalduring which the delivery can be made; and the delivery system sendingto the one of the locked storage containers an access signal allowing afirst delivery person who is delivering the delivery to access the oneof the locked storage containers only during the first time interval.27. The method of claim 26 further including the steps of: following theordering, determining the size of the delivery using the deliverysystem; and checking available room with the one of the locked storagecontainers by use of the delivery system.
 28. The method of claim 27further including the step of: upon availability as indicated by thechecking step, reserving, by operation of the delivery system,sufficient room within the one of the locked storage containers toreceive the delivery.
 29. The method of claim 28 wherein the one of thelocked storage containers signals the delivery system of the insertionof the delivery into the one of the locked storage containers based onaccess by a delivery person.
 30. The method of claim 24 wherein the oneof the locked storage containers signals the delivery system of theinsertion of the delivery into the one of the locked storage containersbased on access by a delivery person.